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Loading... Over the Sea (CJ's First Notebook) (2011)by Sherwood Smith
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  humouress | Sep 12, 2022 |    ) readinggeek451 | Jan 5, 2013 | no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesCJ's Notebooks (Book 1) Sartorias-deles {Sherwood Smith} (4730-33 (Mearsies Heili 1))
Fantasy.
Young Adult Fiction.
HTML: When Sherwood Smith was eight years old, a girl named Clair walked into her dreams, bringing hints of a world where girls could adventure, live on their own, and best of all, didn't have to grow up. Clair traveled about looking for girls who needed a home. She even came to Earth, where she found CJ, who did not fit. CJ found herself not only taken to another world to live, but she became the princess - Clair's "left hand splat." One of her jobs as princess was to write down their records. Another was to serve as leader for the girls when Clair was busy learning to become queen. The girls had jobs, too, using their imaginations and their wits to foil villains who tried to take a kingdom away from a mere girl. From the shadowy Kwenz, a powerful mage with a very wicked past, to the usurper Glotulae and her son Prince Jonnicake, who in their ridiculous way were just as determined to boot Clair out, there were plenty of chances for adventure. And mystery, like why did kids from other times and worlds show up every now and then? These are the early stories - how Clair found her gang of girls, and how the M girls developed the fine art of the Duel to the Pie. .No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyRatingAverage: (3.75)
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Wikipedia in English
2
This sub-series in the overarching story of Sartorias-deles focuses on the kingdom of Mearsies Heili and its child queen, Clair Sherwood. It is narrated from the point of view (in first person) by a young girl from Earth who first meets Clair in her dreams, then in her dreary garden in LA and is then transferred by magic to Mearsies Heili and finally gets to stay for good. I don't think we are ever told the narrator's Earth name but she chooses a new name which is quickly shortened to its initials, CJ.
Clair's reign is threatened by enemies who feel they can take over her kingdom just because she is so young but she is determined to be a good ruler, as her mother was not. She has collected a group of girls, from the world of Sartorias-deles as well as others, who needed rescuing and who band together to defeat those enemies. I like the way they do so without excessive violence; although their methods might be simplistic, they - strangely, perhaps - don't seem childish. Well, except for the pie-throwing; but even that was mainly illusory pies.
These stories were apparently first written when Smith was very young herself and have been rewritten for publication. For the most part, the writing is beautifully descriptive and up to her usual (current) standard. I was happy to be back in familiar territory on Sartorias-deles. I did think there was a little bit of jumping events at the beginning but most things (such as the Waste Spell which eliminates pollution) were quickly and effectively explained. The childish made up words and names I could have done without, though, and I suspect that some of the Earth slang may have dated (but I wouldn't know).
I did really like the story and it helped to fill in gaps from my reading of A Sword Named Truth which comes further along in the main series. Though I did feel a bit bad for the substitute who ended up in CJ's place on Earth.
(August 2022)
4**** (